Don disowns reports on NASS bribe demand during oversight to universities

Don disowns reports on NASS bribe demand during oversight to universities
By Aideloje Ojo, Minna
The Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai (IBBUL), Professor Hassan Ibrahim, has refuted media report ascribed to him that members of the National Assembly demands bribe during oversight functions.
In the media report, Professor Ibrahim was said to have made the allegations while delivering a paper at the Third Annual Lecture of the Bursary Department of the Federal University of Technology, Minna last week.
However, in a statement issued in Minna Sunday, Professor Ibrahim said that he never made such claim in his paper.
He said, “specifically, my attention has been drawn to lots of news captions where I was quoted to have mentioned that “members of the National Assembly demand bribe from universities to perform their oversight function.” I never mentioned that in the paper I delivered. As a professional Accountant and as an astute academic who knows what oversight function means, I cannot just begin to jump into any social, political and or economic controversy without weighing the gravity of my utterances”.
He explained that the paper he delivered was divided into nineteen slices of power point and was professional and straight to the point, with more of an academic, rather than political consideration.
He said, “Again, in the paper, I tried to draw the line between Nigerian universities, innovation and financial management where I urged Nigerian universities to adopt innovative strategies to tackle the financial management challenges plaguing the Nigerian University System (NUS)”.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor expressed serious concerns over the deliberate misrepresentation by the social media, advising journalists to be professional in carrying out their duties.
” I therefore distance myself totally from the false report linking me to have cast aspersions on the highly respected institution of the National Assembly and the distinguished members.
“A situation where individuals’ statements are misconstrued count a lot, and does not augur well for the development of the nation”, he explained.